Author Lee Child has made cameos in both adaptations of his action-packed thrillers. In Jack Reacher (based on One Shot) he played a member of airport security, while in Never Go Back he reappears as a police officer. Both characters see Child handing lead actor Tom Cruise his possessions - symbolic of the author handing over creative responsibility. Watch the making of Lee Child's cameo in Never Go Back here.

The Outsiders, recently reissued as part of The Originals series, is a classic coming-of-age story about social hierarchy and friendship. In the film adaptation S.E. Hinton, who wrote the novel at the age of 17, appears as a nurse in a hospital scene having a heated exchange with Dallas, played by a young Matt Dillon.

Irvine Welsh's appearance in Trainspotting amounts to more than a cameo – he plays drug dealer Mikey Forrester who supplies Ewan McGregor's Renton with the opiates he believes will help end his heroin addiction. Welsh also makes an appearance in the sequel T2 Trainspotting.

With Robin Williams in the title role and a host of other offbeat characters, the 1982 film of John Irving's novel will make you laugh, cry and think. Keep your eyes peeled for Irving in the brief but surprisingly energetic role of referee at a high school wrestling match.

The Help sees a southern society girl turn a small Mississippi town upside down when she begins to chronicle the stories of the black women who raise the children of prominent southern families. Stockett appears in a church pew - note the beehive hairdo - along with some of her family and friends.

In the television adaptation of The Night Manager starring Tom Hiddleston, the 84-year-old author appears as an angry restaurant diner who has his meal ruined. However, he is quickly charmed by Jonathan Pine's powers of persuasion (and offer to buy lunch).